The following is a list of the top 50 pharmaceutical and biotech companies ranked by healthcare revenue. Some companies (eg, Bayer) have additional chemicals revenue not included here. The phrase Big Pharma is often used to refer to companies with revenue in excess of $3 billion, and/or R&D expenditure in excess of $500 million, and represents the first 30 or so companies in this list.
| Rank 2004 | Company | Country | Healthcare Revenue 2004 (USD millions) | Healthcare R&D 2004 (USD millions) | Net Income/ (Loss) 2004 (USD millions) | Employees 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pfizer | USA | 52,516 | 7,684 | 11,361 | 115,000 |
| 2 | Johnson & Johnson | USA | 47,348 | 5,203 | 8,509 | 109,900 |
| 3 | GlaxoSmithKline | UK | 37,318 | 5,204 | 7,886 | 100,619 |
| 4 | Sanofi-Aventis | France | 31,615 | 4,927 | 6,526 | 96,439 |
| 5 | Novartis | Switzerland | 28,247 | 4,207 | 5,767 | 81,392 |
| 6 | Hoffmann-La Roche | Switzerland | 25,163 | 4,098 | 5,344 | 64,703 |
| 7 | Merck & Co. | USA | 22,939 | 4,010 | 5,813 | 62,600 |
| 8 | AstraZeneca | UK-Sweden | 21,427 | 3,803 | 3,813 | 64,200 |
| 9 | Abbott Laboratories | USA | 19,680 | 1,697 | 3,236 | 50,600 |
| 10 | Bristol-Myers Squibb | USA | 19,380 | 2,500 | 2,388 | 43,000 |
| 11 | Wyeth | USA | 17,358 | 2,461 | 1,234 | 51,401 |
| 12 | Eli Lilly and Company | USA | 13,858 | 2,591 | 1,810 | 44,500 |
| 13 | Bayer | Germany | 10,554 | 1,299 | 750 | 113,060 |
| 14 | Amgen | USA | 10,550 | 2,028 | 2,363 | 14,400 |
| 15 | Boehringer Ingelheim | Germany | 10,146 | 1,532 | 1,104 | 35,529 |
| 16 | Baxter International | USA | 9,509 | 517 | 388 | 48,000 |
| 17 | Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. | Japan | 9,330 | 1,285 | 2,636 | 14,510 |
| 18 | Schering-Plough | USA | 8,272 | 1,607 | -981 | 30,500 |
| 19 | Astellas Pharma | Japan | 7,904 | 1,213 | 566 | 15,500 |
| 20 | Procter & Gamble | USA | 7,786 | n/a | 7,257 | 110,000 |
| 21 | Schering | Germany | 5,103 | 1,143 | 622 | 26,131 |
| 22 | Merck KGaA | Germany | 5,018 | 611 | 836 | 28,877 |
| 23 | Eisai Co. | Japan | 4,857 | 744 | 527 | 8,295 |
| 24 | Novo Nordisk | Denmark | 4,847 | 727 | 837 | 20,285 |
| 25 | Teva Pharmaceutical Industries | Israel | 4,799 | 338 | 332 | 13,813 |
| 26 | Genentech | USA | 4,621 | 948 | 785 | 7,646 |
| 27 | Sankyo Co. | Japan | 4,329 | 822 | 459 | 11,444 |
| 28 | Akzo Nobel | The Netherlands | 4,037 | 644 | 1,065 | 61,400 |
| 29 | Alcon | Switzerland | 3,914 | 390 | 872 | 12,200 |
| 30 | Forest Laboratories | USA | 3,160 | 294 | 839 | 5,136 |
| 31 | Daiichi Pharmaceutical Co. | Japan | 2,964 | 546 | 353 | 7,333 |
| 32 | Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. | Japan | 2,833 | 463 | 328 | 5,327 |
| 33 | Taisho Pharmaceutical | Japan | 2,655 | 221 | 337 | 5,378 |
| 34 | Altana | Germany | 2,623 | 506 | 486 | 10,783 |
| 35 | Barr Pharmaceuticals | USA | 2,560 | 595 | 494 | 4,902 |
| 36 | Bausch & Lomb | USA | 2,232 | 163 | 160 | 12,400 |
| 37 | Mitsubishi Pharma | Japan | 2,226 | 480 | 125 | 5,917 |
| 38 | Biogen Idec | USA | 2,210 | 684 | 518 | 4,266 |
| 39 | Genzyme | USA | 2,201 | 392 | 87 | 7,100 |
| 40 | Solvay | Belgium | 2,170 | 366 | 673 | 29,300 |
| 41 | UCB | Belgium | 2,088 | 404 | 451 | 11,403 |
| 42 | Allergan | USA | 2,046 | 346 | 377 | 5,030 |
| 43 | Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. | Japan | 2,035 | 230 | 170 | 5,960 |
| 44 | Shionogi & Co. | Japan | 1,862 | 279 | 180 | 5,522 |
| 45 | Chiron Corporation | USA | 1,723 | 431 | 79 | 5,400 |
| 46 | Watson Pharmaceuticals | USA | 1,641 | 134 | 151 | 3,851 |
| 47 | H. Lundbeck | Denmark | 1,625 | 296 | 288 | 5,155 |
| 48 | Sumitomo Chemical Co. | Japan | 1,622 | 239 | 612 | 20,195 |
| 49 | Tanabe Seiyaku Co. | Japan | 1,509 | 264 | 151 | 4,517 |
| 50 | Dr.Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. | India | - | - | - | - |
Source: Top 50 pharmaceutical companies, MedAdNews